According to child rights organisations, the pornography producers and marketers are capitalising poverty and uncontrolled use of technology for safe production and marketing of pornographic films in the city and elsewhere.

The pornographic film producers' syndicates have become so active and are running their unethical business due to lack of legal steps against production and marketing of pornographic films, they told Star City expressing concern over the social problem.

"The production of pornographic films has reached an alarming level in Dhaka," said AKM Mustaque Ali, executive director of INCIDINE Bangladesh, an NGO working in the field of child rights as well as other social issues.

Expressing grave concern over the spread of pornography and children's involvement with it, he said Al Ahram, an Egyptian weekly, mentioned pornography as a "cottage industry" in Bangladesh in an article published four years ago.

INCIDINE held a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium last week on the pornographic film production and vulnerability of the street children.

Mustaque told the press conference that several syndicates are active in producing and marketing pornographic films and books. The syndicates use easily available cameras and technologies to produce pornographic films.

"The syndicates used to import pornography in the past but now they are producing porno films inside the country and have started exporting those," he said.

The syndicates are targeting the street children and poor adolescents for acting in their production, he said. These videos are sold rampantly by street vendors.

He emphasised amendment of the existing laws and their proper execution to stop production and marketing of pornographic videos. Cyber surveillance and cyber policing system could also be helpful to check the crime, he said.

Sultana (not her real name), now living at the shelter home of Aparajeyo Bangladesh, an NGO that provides aid to the disadvantaged children, told Star City that she wanted to be an actress and one day got the chance of acting in a film. Before facing the camera, Sultana was informed that she might need to take off her dress.

Sultana was forced to act in the film with three male actors. "This was my first and last film. My family members later came to know about the incident. Now I have no way to return to my family," she told Star City.

Amina Khatun, programme coordinator of Aparajeoyo Bangladesh, told Star City that the children are the main victims of such crime. They are forced to be involved in such activities. Besides, they can watch pornographic movies as these are easily available.

MSI Mullick, associate professor of the Department of Psychiatry at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said pornography can hamper the growth of children. "It could disturb the children's emotional development and capability to adjust with the family. The most dangerous thing is that pornography could lead to an abnormal sexual behaviour in the children," he told Star City.